Long, painful crawl south for holidaymakers

Motorists hoping to get away for the Easter break hit serious traffic on Friday, with southbound queues stretching more than 11 kilometres north from Kiama Bends, and more than one kilometre north from Albion Park.

Motorists heading south on the Princes Motorway were advised to allow an extra 90 minutes travel time.

Traffic flow was also hampered on the Princes Highway at Kembla Grange after two men were trapped following a two-car crash.

The northbound lane was closed while NSW Fire and Rescue attended the incident.

Illawarra Fire and Rescue duty commander Brendan Cox said firefighters used rescue equipment to pull the men out.

Both men were taken to hospital but were not believed to have been seriously injured.

Meantime, a 22-year-old Oak Flats man was charged with mid-range drink-driving after he was stopped by police for a random breath test on Addison Street, Shellharbour on Thursday. The man returned a reading of 0.135 and had his licence suspended.

Police across the state began Operation Tortoise on Thursday, with double demerit points for speeding, seatbelt and helmet offences enforced until midnight Monday.

On day one of the operation, police issued 1559 traffic infringement notices, including 882 for speeding across the state.

NSW Police Traffic and Highway Patrol Command Assistant Commissioner John Hartley said police would be out in force during the operation.